Chapter 11
24 July 1991 Tuesday
Today AP went out to get her hair done and stuff, so I spent the day with Mrs. Figg, although I think it's more that I wanted to come here anyway, so AP figured she deserved some me time.
I decided to ask her to fill in some details about what I wrote before, which was: "What I actually know about Mrs. Figg is that she was born in 1920 in the States, that her parents were some sort of researchers who came to Britain between the wars to do more research, that her maiden name was Arabella Marie Ambrose, and that her marriage was a bad idea (once when I was little I asked where Mr. Figg was (I'm smarter than that now, I swear!)). Oh, and that she raises and sells registered Maine Coon Cats, who are huge and fluffy and smart and some of them have thumbs. "
Born in 1920 in the states is correct. Her parents were both magical, as are her sister and brother. Her parents research (they're still alive in the US!) wizarding heredity and genetics. Their theory is that there's actually no such thing as a non-magical human being, just varying levels of ability to use it consciously.
She did in fact grow up in Godric's Hollow where I was born, although by then she was living in London, and she knew my grandparents! She and my grandmother were the same age, even. My grandfather was a lot older and his parents had given up on him ever getting married, so when he agreed to marry Dorea Black, they had a huge wedding and threw two receptions so everyone living in Godric's Hollow could drink to them, even the non-magical people. Mrs. Figg says the grandmother Dorea is where I get my unmanageable black hair from (Grandfather Charlus was kind of blond), only on her it was long and thick and wavy and she had a lot of fun braiding it in all sorts of symbolic shapes (it's to do with runes and arithmancy and magical threadwork, which they don't teach at Hogwarts; more on that later). She had a wicked sense of humor and she used to paint funny magical paintings and she was also fascinated with silent films, and collected them. (Mrs. Figg thinks her collection is probably in the family vault.) She wasn't very healthy, though, and she had trouble staying pregnant. She had to stay in bed the whole time she was pregnant with my father, and all the families in Godric's Hollow sent meals over and came to keep her company at one time or another. She was only 57 when she died of "female troubles" (Mrs. Figg said I wasn't old enough for any more explanation than that and I don't think I want one) and my grandfather died less than six months later.
She also said that my father was the spoiled brat that he was because my grandparents didn't expect to be able to have any children at all, and my great-grandparents had totally given up on grandchildren, so as far as they were concerned, he was the handsomest, most charming, and smartest baby and little boy ever, and they had enough money to make sure he had the best of everything. Mrs. Figg says she remembers my father was really softhearted when it came to injured animals, but not so good with people. Also, my dad never had babysitters and his parents homeschooled him until he went to Hogwarts. (I think I am really glad I am not going to school with him.)
Mrs. Figg didn't go to Hogwarts because she's a squib, which is a person with magical parents who can't use magic. Her parents left Britain before the Voldemort War because things were getting ugly and their research was getting dangerous, not just for them but for the people they interviewed. They wanted her to divorce her husband and come back to the States with them, but she didn't. (Her brother and sister had moved back to the states decades before.)
I almost didn't ask the one question I really wanted to ask, which was "Why didn't you tell me?" I was kind of afraid to cos I really like Mrs. Figg, she's like my pretend grandmother, and I was afraid I'd start yelling and she wouldn't like me anymore. But she knew something was bothering me, and she guessed what it was, and said she'd always figured I'd need to do a bit of shouting when I found out, and then I asked her, if she even knew I was going to be upset, why couldn't she just tell me?
That's where it gets complicated. During the Voldemort War, and for quite a while running up to it, it was even worse to be a squib in Britain than it usually is, and the jobs they were allowed to hold were really restricted. Mrs. Figg was working as a charwoman for the Ministry for Magic and she got approached by a representative of an organization that was fighting against Voldemort. You'd think the government would be doing that, and they were, kind of, but there were (and still are) way too many people in government that were secretly on his side, and even the ones that weren't were still unwilling to do much, because the Death Eaters came from the "best families". So this secret organization was doing what it could to keep things from getting worse, anyway, and Mrs. Figg helped them out by spying in the ministry. (People will say anything in front of the servants, she said.) Before my mother defeated Voldemort, our side was losing, and since the people in power were too prejudiced to be able to accept that a "mudblood" defeated the great Dark Lord, they put it on me, the Last Scion of the House of Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived (gag). Since my parents were dead, everyone wanted to raise me, either for the honor, or to be able to use my fame, or to get revenge (although some of my mother's friends wanted me for me, they didn't have political clout), so the only place they could put me was with family. My closest living relatives on the magical side are the Tonkses, who have no political power, and the Malfoys, who have lots, and it's widely rumored that Lucius Malfoy bought his way out of prison, as he was a marked Death Eater and claimed he had been acting under the Imperius Curse, which is just what it sounds like, so they had to put me with my mother's sister.
Blood is really important in the wizarding world. (Duh.) So nobody would argue with me being placed with my mother's blood-kin. But they wanted someone to keep an eye on me to make sure I was safe, and Mrs. Figg kind of volunteered and kind of got volunteered.
We argued a bit there, and Mrs. Figg told me that she had really liked my mother, everyone who knew her did, and I had been an adorable baby and she was quite happy to quit working for the Ministry and come live in Little Whinging and offer AP unlimited free childminding. So I guess that's all right. And she still cares about me, and she's sorry she couldn't tell me, but she want allowed to. She wasn't even supposed to have told me as much as she did, or send me those postcards, or tell me to keep an eye out for my Hogwarts letter, and she's really glad that the only person I told was Professor McGonnagle (whose name is Minerva), cos otherwise she'd be in big trouble. I'm really glad she did. I can't imagine what would have happened if UV or the Dud had seen my letter first. I bet I'd still be in my cupboard and maybe they'd decide to spend money on a decent lock for it after all. But Professor McGonnagle never quite agreed with me never being told anything, so she already knew I was hearing stories.
Then I remembered that I wanted to send a letter to Cassiopeia Black. Mrs. Figg said it would be better to send a polite letter to Lord Black, introducing myself, so we sat and she helped me work on my penmanship. Quills are hard! She ended up writing the letter for me so we could send it today and I promised to spend half an hour a day from now until school starts working on learning how to write properly and to use a quill. She also said that for practicing script it would probably make more sense to use my fountain pen, since learning to write decently and learning to use a quill properly are different skills.
She also warned me that all of the Blacks in my parents' generation had supported the Dark Lord except for Andromeda Tonks, but since almost all of them were therefore either dead or in prison (Narcissa Malfoy is married to Lucius, who bought himself off, and was never very political anyway), Lord Black has quite gone off him, if he ever actually liked him in the first place, so I didn't need to worry about Lord Black trying to rend me down for potions ingredients.
So anyway, we wrote as nice a letter as I could come up with, and admitted someone was doing the actual writing for me as I had only just learned of my heritage and had not yet mastered quill use. I got back a letter saying. "Dear Master Potter, Thank you very much for writing, and I quite understand the need for a secretary. I shall send you a longer letter tomorrow, once mine is back on duty, but I did not want to hesitate to welcome you back to the family. Yours faithfully, Black"
Mrs. Figg was quite shocked. She pointed out the Black seal on the wax of the letter, and that the closure was one to a social equal. She also said that Lord Black is very old and said to be pretty sick, though, so he might be a little confused, but that a letter written in Lord Black's hand was a very special thing, and I should be very careful of it. She also said that there were probably charms on the letter to keep it from being used against him in any way, and considering how well I get on with my family, that only seems sensible.
After that, we did some cooking together and she showed me what she knew of different kinds of potions ingredient preparation, although she said that there's more to it than just the mechanics. If you get the mechanics wrong though, she said, getting the rest right doesn't help much. She showed me one preparation that when done properly by a magical person makes a nice sleep aid, a mild one suitable to giving to restless children, but when done by someone with no magic just makes herbal tea - which is still nice and relaxing, but it needs straining. I quite liked it. She also said it was an old recipe, so probably not in my potions textbook, so I wrote it down.
Three dried rose hips, crushed
One pinch of fennel seed, bruised
Two chamomile plants, with the flowers but without the roots, chopped but not washed
Sixteen ounces of rainwater that fell during the new moon
She said that she couldn't remember the proper method of brewing it, so I would have to ask about. For tea, all you need to do is steep it in water just off the boil until it smells right and then strain it. And for tea it's all right to wash the ingredients, and also to add a bit of licorice root. Professor Snape teaches potions, maybe he might know and be willing to talk to me about it. If not, maybe once I make friends, one of their grandmothers will know.
We also did dicing, mincing, and chiffonade, but those ingredients we used for fish chowder. It was really good, but she said so long as I remember carrots, potatoes, onions, and cream, with a bit of salt and pepper and whatever herbs make me happy, there's no need to write down a recipe.
AP came and picked me up after dinner and sent me up to my room (UV and the Dud are watching telly) and I wrote up all this and buried my letter in the bottom of my book bag, and now I need sleep. I can't wait for tomorrow!